Posts Tagged ‘Republican’

Note from Bill Goodman:In this final installment of our special One to One series with Kentucky’s federal delegation, my colleague Renee Shaw provides the highlights of tonight’s One to One interview with Rep. Andy Barr which airs on KET tonight at 6:30 ET.

A proponent for spending restraints and national debt reduction, Kentucky’s 6th District Rep. Andy Barr pledged support in January for a “No Budget No Pay” proposal that would require the House and Senate members to pass a budget as a condition of receiving their salaries.

During a spring hearing of the Financial Services Committee, he relayed complaints from community banks that Washington regulations are too burdensome, complex, and counterproductive.

Also in mid-April, the Lexington Republican reserved an hour of time on the floor of the U.S. House to lead what is known as a Special Order on the “Importance of America’s Coal Industry.” He and 10 others of the same and different political stripes bragged on coal’s ability to produce affordable energy and create jobs. Barr co-sponsors the “Coal Jobs Protection Act” introduced earlier this month. He says at least 36 mining permits in Kentucky are being held up by the federal Environmental Protection Agency. The measure would ensure timely action on permit applications, and a companion version is being championed in the Senate by Republican leader Mitch McConnell.

And, just last week, Barr introduced the “Live by the Laws You Write Act” in the U.S. House of Representatives. According to a press release from May 16th, the two-page legislation aims to close Obamacare’s congressional loophole and ensure that Congress and its staff are not exempt from the laws that it writes. Barr was quoted in the release as saying, “It is wrong for the people who wrote Obamacare to have exempted themselves, so today we are fixing that to ensure that there is no special treatment for the people who wrote this legislation.”

In the last installment of congressional interviews from Washington D.C. with host Bill Goodman, Barr discusses his perception that “Washington policies are creating economic uncertainty.”

The 39-year-old attorney talks with Goodman tonight at 6:30 ET about transitioning to Beltway politics. In 2004, Barr worked in the Republican gubernatorial administration of Governor Ernie Fletcher and at one time served as Fletcher’s deputy general counsel.

Note from Bill Goodman:We continue our special series with Kentucky’s federal delegation from Washington, D.C., which began airing last week. My colleague Renee Shaw provides the highlights of tonight’s One to One interview with Rep. Hal Rogers, which airs on KET tonight at 6:30 ET.

Eastern Kentucky Rep. Harold “Hal” Rogers has represented the 5th District since 1981. As his website touts, Rep. Rogers is the longest serving Kentucky Republican ever elected to federal office.

Now in his 17th term, he is chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee which is charged with approving government expenditures with the exception of entitlement programs. Rogers’ physical positioning in the Capitol demonstrates his level of influence. His Capitol office is near Speaker John Boehner’s office, other leadership digs, and House chambers.

Rogers represents one of the poorest congressional districts in the nation. The district’s problems are exacerbated by substance abuse and addiction, against which he’s waged a valiant fight and dedicated financial resources to fixing.

In tonight’s interview with Bill Goodman, Rogers talks about the drug scourge plaguing his southern and eastern Kentucky area. He is the only member of the Kentucky federal delegation who hasn’t endorsed other prominent state leaders’ push for industrial hemp legalization in Kentucky. His concern is that hemp legalization could complicate marijuana eradication efforts, and he also remains unconvinced of the crop’s economic viability. He characterizes himself as a “passive opponent” of hemp as he says he’s not waging an active fight against it.

As the chairman of the Subcommittee on Homeland Security, Rogers talks with Bill about cyber security, terrorism, and China – all of which he considers to be the biggest threats to Americans and the national economy.

The full interview airs tonight at 6:30 ET. Tomorrow night, the special One to One series of interviews with Kentucky’s congressional delegation concludes with 6th District Rep. Andy Barr.

Note from Bill Goodman:KET just returned from a trip to Washington, D.C., for a series of One to One interviews that began airing this week. My colleague Renee Shaw provides the highlights of tonight’s One to One interview with Rep. Brett Guthrie which airs on KET tonight at 6:30 ET.

When Bowling Green Republican Brett Guthrie ran for the Kentucky State Senate in 1998, his theme was a “Common Hope for Tomorrow.” After serving in the state legislature for nine years and serving as Transportation Committee chairman, he upgraded his lawmaker status to serve as 2nd District congressman in 2009.

Since the start of his stint in public office, Guthrie says, “people are still anxious about their ability to move ahead.” That’s his number one priority in Congress – which means jobs and the economy. “We need to make Washington work so people can see that government is not in the way,” he adds.

He’s been a staunch critic of the Affordable Care Act that he says is thrusting uncertainty on the business community. He believes that fears of increased healthcare costs are sure to stifle hiring and harm the economy.

Guthrie says Western Kentucky University (located in his district) has been aggressive in luring international students to campus, only to have many of the students return to their native countries with high-level skills and knowledge that the U.S. covets.

The second-term congressman is a 1987 economics graduate from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He served as a field artillery officer in the 101st Airborne Division – Air Assault at Fort Campbell. After his military service, he worked at Trace Die Cast, a manufacturing facility owned by his father based in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Rep. Guthrie says his experience with struggling to find high-skilled workers for his father’s factory put him on a legislative quest to form policies and nurture apprenticeship programs for non-college bound kids who would rather move right into the workforce after high school.

Bill and Guthrie discuss these issues plus sequestration, gun legislation, and industrial hemp tonight at 6:30 ET on KET. Bill’s interviews with the congressional delegation resume at the same time Monday night with 3rd District Rep. John Yarmuth.